STRAWBERRY SWAP

A lovely parcel arrived in the post this morning, It was my strawberry swap from Pixiedust who organised this swap on her blog Faerie Nuff..

Inside the main parcel were these beautifully wrapped little parcels...

I had some help opening the parcels from Clemmie who had just got up from her nap..."Ooooh bubble stuff Mummy !" was her comment...

Inside the bubble stuff was this gorgeous Cath Kidston strawberry mug !

The rest of the parcels contained, a strawberry notebook, shower gel, a bag that folds up into a strawberry, homemade strawberry jam (my favourite jam !) and the most beautiful little fabric strawberries in a jar that smell just divine !

Thank you so much Pixiedust AKA Louisa, you put a lot of thought putting together the perfect parcel and I love it all...

HERE'S OUR ENVELOPE...

Hebe and I spent this morning (while Clemmie napped) to put together our envelope for the Meet me at Mikes envelope project...

The brief was to send an envelope containing bits (light to post) such as stickers, postcards, cuttings etc..

We included a picture printed onto calico from Judith Kerr's "The Tiger who came to tea", one of our all time favourite reads, a Guinness for strength postcard, Union Jack bunting, a Burnley FC ticket stump, London Underground postcard, sticky stars and some wildflower seeds that were given away in the library..

Pip of Meet me at Mikes takes photos of the envelopes when they arrive with her (then displays them in her shop window) and puts them either on her blog or onto this flickr group, we will be watching out to see if we can spot ours..

At the end of the six week project one envelope will be chosen and that extremely lucky person will receive everything from all the envelopes sent to Pip, such a cool idea ......

There is still time to join in....

CRAFTY SUNDAY # 8

This week I have (at last) learnt to crochet, something that I have been wanting to learn to do for such a long time.

After being disappointed by the lack of crochet books in the local library, I turned to the web and came across the video tutorials by Pip at Meet Me at Mikes, she has a whole series of them called Crochet school which has 10 lessons starting from the very beginning, how to hold your hook, make a slip knot etc.  Pip then goes on step by step to show you how to crochet a granny square.

These are my first attempts and I am really pleased with them...

I have come across some fantastic crochet blogs this week in my searches, Attic 24 is written by Lucy, who has some gorgeous patterns and tutorials, below is the start of a birdie decoration that can be found on her blog.

When it is finished it should look like this.. Mmmm not sure I have actually started mine right, may have to pull that out and start again, but I will get there in the end !...

Photo - Attic 24

I think now that I know the basics I can have a go at other things, I found these lovely African flowers via Jo at Bearpaw,

photo - Jo- bearpaw

Jo posted about the very talented  Elizabeth Cat who has the most gorgeous crochet on her blog,  she also has a flickr group for the above African flowers which also has  Free pattern for African flowers.

So, now that I can crochet I can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine, whilst doing something I enjoy !

WE ARE OFF AND RUNNING..

The first parcels of fabric for the Fresh and Funky quilting bee have been arriving with all the group over the last week (this is my selection above) or so, Lynette is setting us off for July and has chosen the theme 'People and places" inspired by a quilt in this book..

Material Obsession by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke...

Burbs quilt....

Lynette intends to make her blocks up into a wall hanging for her office...

My second lot a fabric this week came from a brand new online fabric shop called

Simply solids

Simply Solids has been set up by Mandy and specialises in Robert Kaufman Kona solids which are notoriously difficult to come by in this country.

A big plus of this site is also the free delivery on orders over £15.00..

I ordered a Timber fat quarter pack by Jessica Levitt...

I was also lucky enough to receive two fat quarters as a free gift for being one of the first 10 people to place an order, Mandy chose the two stunning solid grey in the forefront of the picture.  I see this being made into a quilt for our soon to be decorated bedroom, very pretty but in a not to girly way, if that makes sense...

Lynne at lilysquilts.blogspot.com is hosting a huge giveaway for simply Solids, it is open to international entries too, so well worth having a look at...

THE ENVELOPE PROJECT..

Have you seen this ?

I have been learning to crochet this week (that needs a whole post of its own !) and found some excellent video tutorials by Pip Lincolne of  www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com , anyway as I was on Pip's blog I saw this envelope project that she is doing.

You send Pip a decorated envelope to the address above, inside the envelope you pop any bits you like (must be lightweight), that are recycled, or handmade, such as a magazine cutting, photo, stickers, swap cards, piece of ribbon etc. Pip will display the envelopes in her Melbourne shop window, check out the pictures on her blog...

The project will run for six weeks (they are at day 9), at the end of that time an envelope will be randomly picked and ALL the items from ALL the envelopes will be sent to that person ! How cool would it be to win that ! As they say, you have to be in it to win it, so go on over to Meet Me at Mikes to join up and read the rules.

I think that this is a great idea for children to join in with (it is open to all ages) and my older two are very keen to join in and I think the younger two would enjoy decorating an envelope too...

It would me so cool if we saw our envelopes in a photo of the window across the other side of the world !

There are more photos on the Flickr group as well...

CRAFTY SUNDAY #7

My make for this week is something from one of my very first blog posts, and I have returned to make more of these this week.

I first saw the idea for these in a magazine that my Mother passed on to me, I adapted that idea slightly as the original 'beads' were made with tiny beads threaded onto the thread that is wrapped around each bead.  I wanted these to be children's jewellery and so wanted to limit the amount of small 'bits'. 

If I was making them for very small children I would not include any beads at all and just use the felt beads.

So here is what you do...

You start by cutting out strips of felt to the width you want your bead to be and about 15cm long.  Then pulling it taut start wrapping the felt around a skewer/knitting needle..

When you have your felt all wrapped up into your bead shape wrap it with embroidery thread and tie it securely..

That's it really, it is easier to keep the beads on the skewer/knitting needle until you need them, just keep pushing them up as you make more...

When you have your required number of beads, (how many depends on how big you want your bracelet or necklace to be, or if you are adding other beads) thread them onto some nylon bead thread.

I really like these and so do all the little (and some big !) girls I have made them for.  The other great thing is if they do manage to pull them enough to snap the bracelet then you do not end up with tiny beads everywhere (done that many times !)...

If you check out Annie at The Felt Fairy I think she will have packs of different coloured felt in her shop.

P.s Happy Fathers day to my Dad , Chris's dad and also to Chris from Freya, Finn, Hebe and Clemmie xxxx

MORE DRESSES..

Just a couple of little dresses to show you that I was commissioned to make this week..

The dresses button up at the back..

I like the fabric of both the dresses and think that the large pattern works well with this very plain design....

CAN YOU HELP ?

These little mice in a matchbox are made by Maileg and can bought on the Internet for between about £15 and £21 (a little pricey me thinks !) each...

Our two little girls Hebe and Clemmie (actually probably a not so little girl called Freya too!) would like these mice, but can I justify spending that much on one 11cm mouse ? (No!)..

Here's where you lovely readers come in...

Has anyone seen a pattern for something similar to these ?

You can even buy this little mouse house for them, I won't tell you how much they are, you might have heart failure !..

I would however like to source the wooden 'matchboxes' or something similar, so if you can help, I would be ever so grateful, as would two (make that 3 and a Mummy) little girls...

Failing that I suppose I could adapt the pattern for the TILDA bears and cats, make it smaller and change the face shape, What do you think ?

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY GRANDPA JOHN...

It was Chris's dads 60th birthday (I know 60 ! it seems quite young really for a grandfather (my father is in his 80's), but he was only 18 when Chris was born...

We went out for Sunday lunch yesterday with Grandpa John and his partner Sue..

The children brush up quite well...

Just never seem to be able to get a photo of them all looking the same way !

I made new dresses for the younger two girls.  One of the nursery mums gave me some Laura Ashley fabric a few months ago and asked if I could make use of it, can I ever ! I think that it looks great with the Amy Butler Sunspots..

I made Freya a top ( it was actually meant to be tunic length, but I was chatting to a friend when cutting out and cut the front to tunic length and the back to top length !), using this Amy Butler pattern..

She chose some fabric last time we went to Ikea, I was not sure about it at all, but when it was actually made up I think the bold pattern looks quite good and suits her colouring..

Freya was very happy with it and has asked me to make more in different fabrics but in the tunic length, I think it would be nice done in cord and worn with bright tights..

We had a lovely meal, but the highlight for the children was going back to Grandpa Johns house for cake..

And for a balloon fight !....

CRAFTY SUNDAY #6

This week I am showing the tin can tea light lanterns that I made for the That Little Bit Greener swap, I sent these to my partner Dawn of  Life on the east coast..

I started by filling the washed out cans with water and putting them in the freezer until frozen..

Then I used a hammer and this handy tool that I found in the tool box (bradle ?) and punched a pattern around the tin, I did mine by eye but you could mark it on with pen and wipe off after.  The ice in the can stops the tin from denting as you punch the holes in, but you do need to hold it with a cloth as it sticks to your hands ! I worked on a chopping board with a towel on to stop the can moving around to much..

When you have finished punching your pattern, defrost the ice from the tin with hot water.  I made little handles by threading beads on to wire and attaching through holes on each side of the tin..

And voila , tin can lanterns, I think they would be even better sprayed in bright colours.

Ideal to line up along the table when eating outside..

A friend came in when I was making these and said she had just been looking at some in M & S !

TWO SWAP PARCELS IN ONE DAY !

I have been very lucky today, receiving two swap parcels...

The first was for the..

The 'That Little Bit Greener'  swap organised by Rachel and Emma at That Little Bit Greener.

I was partnered with Dawn from Life on the East Coast.

Here are all my parcels wrapped up in brown paper and wool..

and here they are in all their entirety..

This great book that has made me laugh with some of the ideas (such as filling tights with flour to shake over your pastry !), there used to be a programme that was on a few years ago and quite late at night that gave tips like this e.g. if you rub your bathroom mirror with a potato it will not steam up !... such things do make me giggle for some reason, but there is a lot of useful tips in here..

Some organic chocolate, a 'no chemicals' cleaning cloth, thrifted fabric covered buttons, handmade soap (smells gorgeous) and some seeds..

And lastly Dawn crocheted this string bag from Rowan Purelife recycled yarn, I have a string bag that I keep in my normal bag in case I need an extra bag, mine is neon orange !, this will definitely replace that one and I am sure you would agree is very pretty on the eye.

So, I big thank you to Dawn, I love all my gifts x

My second parcel was for the

organised by Deborah at Fondant Kiss..

I was partnered with Julia Jules at Home and she sent me this parcel with the most lovely cupcake card..

 

Julia, like Dawn is someone else that I am in awe of as they can crochet...(I can not, yet, anyway !)..

Inside the parcel was this beautifully crocheted little pouch, that is lined with lovely fabric...

And inside the pouch.. a gorgeous lavender scented hanging heart..

 Julia had also included the pattern for the 'little fans' that the pouch is made in, so when I eventually learn to crochet I can have a go too !..

So thank you to Julia, I adore my little heart x